Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

news.wttw.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 330 posts

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#71

Post by petecox »

bandrami wrote: post #47
smt88 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which city is this? I've only ever heard of rules like this coming from HOAs. Are you claiming that you're not allowed to plant trees or a native ground cover?

Strongtowns did a rundown on it [1]. It's often a feature of midsize town zoning laws, not just HOA busybodyness. [1] https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/7/28/grassy-lawns-e...

Here in Australia, the local council expects you to keep the nature strip, or verge, between the road and the pavement looking presentable but anything behind the front fence is your own creation.

And so the 'front lawn' is my vegie patch. Potatoes are dead easy to grow from eyes and pumpkins (winter squash) self-germinate from compost. This summer I'm experimenting with Jerusalem artichokes, which sprouted from 70¢ worth of store-bought tubers.

All you need is water and a spade - and no lawn police, I guess.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#72

Post by elric »

larnmar wrote: post #40
_qwfv wrote: post #25

Getting rid of our lawn and growing other stuff has been amazingly fulfilling. I have fresh produce most of the year, I've got honeybees and bumblebees and mason bees coming around. I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting. Everything from fruit trees to berries, flowers to vegetables, herbs to herbal teas like chamomile. Strongly recommend looking at what will grow in your…

Since having kids I’ve been realising that a lot of the things in life that other people do, that have never made sense to me, suddenly make a whole lot more sense in the context of kids. With a kid, I’m suddenly super grateful for my little lawn.

When I was a kid, our (huge) back yard was more orchard than yard. It had at least 30 fruit trees, including cherry, apple, pear, peach and plum. There were hazelnuts, brambles and raspberries. Next to that was a patch of land with all kinds of produce.

I loved playing in that yard. It had great places to hide. Ample trees to climb. Wildlife to look for and learn about. A variety of fun tasks to perform, from picking fruit and berries to making jam and juice.

When my younger brother turned 10, our parents decided that he had to play football. Almost all of the trees were felled. Everything I loved about that place was destroyed, and replaced by one, big, boring, lifeless lawn.

Instead of fun tasks, I was thenceforth assigned the task of mowing the lawn. Which I resented and continue to detest to this day.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#73

Post by vosper »

Jedd wrote: post #52
shartshooter wrote: post #27

Why do lawns even factor into the equation when the reality is that industry, farms, etc. own the majority of all water usage? I live in a desert area and hate seeing lawns watered in the middle of the summer but its impact seems trivial. Agriculture is a major user of ground and surface water in the United States, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the Nation's consumptive water use and over 90 percent in ma…

> ... would be to cut out bovine meat. The somewhat ludicrous figure provided at that link - of 15,415 litres of water per kilogram of meat - is oft' cited by vegetarians and vegans, but doesn't bear scrutiny. CAFOs are undeniably bad for everyone (the land, the animals, and the consumers) and while they doubtless skew the stats, those grossly artificial environments are clearly not locking up 15 tonnes of water per…

> But the whole 'using water' claim is muddied. The water the animal drinks passes through it and into the ground.

Yes, it's not like the water is destroyed. It may be diverted from directly flowing into a river, sure, and perhaps goes straight back to the atmosphere rather than into the sea via evaporation, exhalation, and transpiration... but it's not gone.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#74

Post by vosper »

onion2k wrote: post #66
AmericanChopper wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much everything you find aesthetically pleasing is a primal instinct. The high-and-mighty-ness of this comment really beggars belief. I hope that somebody like yourself could confidently say you’ve never wasted your time on something frivolous like companionship or sexual needs.

Saying we like lawns because our cave-dwelling ancestors saw them as good hunting ground is fine, but to extend that to saying that's a reason why we should have them is not. We can ignore that particular primal urge if giving up lawns is good for the environment. The same goes for every other "primal instinct" - we've evolved to the point where we can make a conscious decision about what we do regardless of what our…

> Saying we like lawns because our cave-dwelling ancestors saw them as good hunting ground is fine, but to extend that to saying that's a reason why we should have them is not.

I don't see this claim in the comment you originally replied to. The poster gave a theory as to why people like lawns, they did not say that this means we should have them.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#76

Post by pbhjpbhj »

Pfhreak wrote: post #44
larnmar wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since having kids I’ve been realising that a lot of the things in life that other people do, that have never made sense to me, suddenly make a whole lot more sense in the context of kids. With a kid, I’m suddenly super grateful for my little lawn.

Huh, interesting. I have a kid and I'm grateful we gave up our lawn. She plants in the spring, harvests, cooks, and preserves with us. She's excited to make pickles, jam, squash, pumpkins, corn, etc from things she's grown and tended to. She even got to pick out some of the flowers and make her own little square. Watching her step out to grab some blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries is one of the best feelings…

Where does she play ball games, set up a paddling pool, and wrestle?

I'd agree if you have a house big enough to have a playroom, and have open space close by, it's probably easy enough.

Our lawn is kinda a tiny, tiny, wildflower meadow, ie it's not cut much. The bees love the Clover.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#77

Post by rebuilder »

rahuldottech wrote: post #58
rbirkby wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend once explained that boys are like dogs. They need exercising twice a day. A back yard and a ball are sufficient for that. A paved area is more likely than lawn to provide yet more trips to ER.

Ehhhhh. I disagree. That's too much of a generalisation. Different people, different interests. Many kids do like to exercise. Many prefer staying indoor.

What kids prefer and what they need are not one and the same. A lot of parenting is about teaching kids to go outside their immediate preferences for long-term gain, and to learn new preferences.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#78

Post by rwmj »

ravenstine wrote: post #17
colechristensen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family never put anything on the, eh, 3 acres of grass I regularly had to mow as a kid. It wasn't perfect, nobody cared. There were dandelions, there was some clover. If you can bear to tolerate the fact that your lawn isn't going to look like a putting green, you can do literally nothing but cut it and perhaps water it if your climate requires and be done with it. If there are plants you don't want in your lawn,…

What's sad is dandelions are neither ugly nor bad for your lawn. They feed bees and the tap roots draw nutrients from deep in the soil, which also benefits the grass.

Don't forget you can eat them! Pick the heads and batter them to make a fascinating yellow tempura, just remember to cook them quickly because otherwise the flowers will close up. (You can also use the roots to make drinks but I find them rather bitter)

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#79

Post by vanderZwan »

_qwfv wrote: post #25

Getting rid of our lawn and growing other stuff has been amazingly fulfilling. I have fresh produce most of the year, I've got honeybees and bumblebees and mason bees coming around. I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting. Everything from fruit trees to berries, flowers to vegetables, herbs to herbal teas like chamomile. Strongly recommend looking at what will grow in your…

> I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting.

The irony is that people think a lawn is easier to maintain because it looks simpler

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#80

Post by jiofih »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #48
philosopher1234 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate why that is?

They can run around on it, play ball games with their mates, you can put down a slip 'n slide in the summer, there's room for a trampoline etc. etc.

Those are all choices, plus you don’t need to turn the entire backyard into a forest.
Post reply on HN